Building New Models for Marine Conservation | Justin Blake
How marine scientists can combine conservation, entrepreneurship, storytelling, and tourism to create impact, with our guest Justin Blake.
Justin Blake is a marine scientist, entrepreneur, and founder of RockHopper – a social enterprise that blends marine science, storytelling, tourism, and conservation to create new ways of funding and delivering impact.
After spending more than 15 years studying sharks and working on marine conservation projects across Africa, Justin realised that science alone wasn’t enough. Conservation needed new business models, new storytellers, and new ways to connect people with nature.
Today, his work ranges from shark tagging and marine research in South Africa to creating ocean experiences that help fund conservation while inspiring people to care more deeply about the marine world.
In this episode, we explore how entrepreneurship can support conservation, why storytelling is such a powerful conservation tool, what it’s really like to build a career in marine science, and why Justin believes that people protect what they feel connected to.
It’s a marine science, entrepreneurship, and ocean storytelling podcast.
Enjoy.
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